Ministers put resignation move on hold

Ahead of a formal meeting of the Cabinet convened by Chief Minister K. Rosaiah on Tuesday, 20 Ministers from Andhra and Rayalaseema have put on hold their decision to resign in protest against the move to give statehood to Telangana.

Till Sunday night, they were firm that they would not step back. But, they revised their decision after an informal Cabinet meeting convened by the Chief Minister in the Assembly premises on Monday morning. The Ministers, who continued their confabulations, felt that they should not resort to any action that would disrupt the administration of the State. They are understood to have discussed the Chief Minister's appeal against taking any hasty decision that would further complicate the political crisis.

Later, Ministers individually met Mr. Rosaiah who advised them to prevail upon the Congress MLAs to withdraw their resignations. Government adviser on public affairs K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao also met the Chief Minister.

Talking to journalists, Municipal Administration Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy said there was no political crisis. "The Chief Minister has specifically said he will not accept our resignations, as and when they were handed over to him." Panchayati Raj Minister Botcha Satyanarayana said: "We will abide by the decision taken by the Chief Minister. A mutually acceptable formula should be spelt out by the central leadership."

He reiterated the Ministers' assertion that the Centre should come out with a formula that would cover the statement made by late YSR in the Assembly in February that the Congress government was not against Telangana but the objections of the stakeholders had to be addressed before taking a decision. However, Endowments Minister Gade Venkata Reddy differed with his colleagues claiming the crisis was yet to subside.